Maps have been in existence for many thousands of years and employed for a variety of purposes relating to travel, logistics, planning, etc. One type of map is a general purpose map, which typically provides an orthographic projection of a surface (e.g., the surface of the Earth or another celestial body) or simply the top-down view of an orthographic projection of an object (e.g., the layout of a large building . . . ). As such, general purpose maps can provide useful information that can aid in understanding or quickly referencing how various features on the map relate to one another in terms of distance, direction, orientation, size etc.
In addition, the concept of an orthographic projection map (e.g., a general purpose map) can be augmented in a variety of ways to provide more specialized maps. For example, a road map is designed such that roadways or paths of a surface are the central features. On the other hand, a physical map generally focuses on landforms and bodies of water and often employs lines, shading, tints, spot elevations and colors to show elevation and distinguish mountains from lowlands. Of course, there are many other specialized maps based upon the concept of an orthographic projection, such as political maps, relief maps, topographical maps and the like, and each can provide specialized information.
However, regardless of the type of map employed, there are certain trade-offs between what information will be provided to the viewer versus what information will be omitted. Often these trade-offs are inherent in the map's construction parameters. For example, whereas a physical map may be more visually appealing, a road map is more useful in, e.g., assisting travel from one point to another over common routes. Sometimes, map types can be combined such as a road map that also depicts land formation, structures, etc. However, when the purpose of the map is to assist travel, certain other information, such as, e.g., political information may not be of much use. Thus, incorporating this information may detract from utility of the map. Accordingly, a good map is one that provides the viewer with useful information, but not so much that extraneous information detracts from the experience.
Another way of depicting a certain location that is altogether distinct from orthographic projection maps is by way of first-person perspective. Often this type of view is from a ground level, typically represented in the form of a photograph, drawing, or some other image of a feature as it is seen in the first-person. First-person perspective images, such as “street-side” images, can provide many local details about a particular feature (e.g., a statue, a house, a garden, or the like) that conventionally do not appear in orthographic projection maps. As such, street-side images can be very useful in determining a location based upon a particular point-of-view because a user can be directly observing a corporeal feature (e.g., a statue) that is depicted in the image. In that case, the user might readily recognize that the corporeal statute is the same as that depicted in the image, whereas with an orthographic projection map, the user might only see, e.g., a small circle that represents the statute that is otherwise indistinguishable from many other statutes similarly represented by small circles.
However, while street-side images are very effective at supplying local detail information such as color, shape, size, etc., they do not readily convey the global relationships between various features resident in orthographic projection maps, such as relationships between distance, direction, orientation, etc. Accordingly, current approaches to street-side imagery/mapping have many limitations. For example, conventional applications for street-side mapping employ an orthographic projection map to provide access to a specific location then separately display first-person images at that location. That is, a user can select a point from an orthographic projection map, and then be served local, first-person images of the selected location. As such, many difficulties arise.
For example, it is often difficult to orient the displayed, local images with the global, orthographic projection map. Hence, while the user might easily match an image with the corporeal feature(s) she is currently viewing (or remembers from past experience), she must mentally translate the orientation of the image to know, e.g. that turning left is equivalent to heading north on the global map. Often, this can lead to confusion for the user. Similarly, as well as trouble in obtaining the global orientation, there also exists trouble obtaining the global position when browsing the local images. For instance, a user might want take a particular path because the local images show it has, e.g. more shade, more shops or the like, but may not be able to readily identify which side of the street those images portray.
Additionally, the first-person images provide only localized information based upon a selected position, which makes searching or exploration very expensive/inefficient in terms of time and image queries. For instance, if a user knows exactly where to look on the global map, then clicking at that location will serve up the desired local image. However, if the user does not know the exact location, but rather only knows the general whereabouts of a particular feature on the global map, then searching and/or exploring for that particular feature can be a very lengthy process. Furthermore, conventional applications for street-side imagery are interactive solutions and require constant access to new local images whenever the user wants to see local information from a different point. Hence, there is no convenient way to print the full information necessary for a larger area such as an a city block, a neighborhood or an entire city. Therefore, in many circumstances, the user must have wireless access and appropriate equipment to display the local images in order to take full advantage of these services.
Accordingly, there is a need in the street-side imagery and mapping space for a solution that can provide local images in connection with global map information. And, further, that can mitigate the difficulties associated with mental translations between the images and the map, make searching for particular features or areas more efficient, and also be capable of delivering this information in a compact manner that can be printed, and thus available to a traveler without the need for special equipment.